Should I start Nico Collins or DeVonta Smith in Week 7?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Nico Collins, and the board ranks him 136th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on DeVonta Smith, and the board ranks him 145th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 11; 2QB: ADP 28.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Nico Collins is 3.5 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for DeVonta Smith is 2.7 PPR points a game off 1 market across 11 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a wide receiver's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Nico Collins's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season through Week 6

Through Week 6, Nico Collins has been on the field for 71 percent of HOU snaps, drawn 23 percent of the targets and had 16 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 7 of the offence's 26 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 4 of its 20 two minute targets.

His 30 targets have averaged 12.9 air yards.

In Week 4 against DAL he caught 7 of 8 targets for 118 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 5 against TEN he caught 5 of 7 targets for 56 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against JAX he carried 1 time for 5 yards, caught 3 of 5 targets for 74 yards and did not score.

Through Week 6, DeVonta Smith has been on the field for 86 percent of PHI snaps, drawn 33 percent of the targets and had 11 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 15 of the offence's 41 third down targets, had 0 of its 8 chances inside the five and seen 10 of its 18 two minute targets.

His 41 targets have averaged 12.2 air yards.

In Week 2 against TEN he caught 10 of 13 targets for 117 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 3 against CHI he caught 6 of 8 targets for 65 yards and did not score.

In Week 6 against CAR he caught 7 of 14 targets for 75 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Nico Collins played 15 games and scored 226.2 PPR points, 15.1 a game, finishing WR8.

He caught 71 of 120 targets for 1117 yards and 6 touchdowns, with 16 red zone targets.

That came to 8.0 targets a game, a 59 percent catch rate and 15.7 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 77 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 DeVonta Smith played 17 games and scored 201.8 PPR points, 11.9 a game, finishing WR20.

He caught 77 of 113 targets for 1008 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 10 red zone targets.

That came to 6.6 targets a game, a 68 percent catch rate and 13.1 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 89 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

DeVonta Smith was available for 2 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Nico Collins scored 15.1 PPR points a game and DeVonta Smith 11.9, 3.2 a game between them.

Nico Collins finished WR8 that year and DeVonta Smith WR20.

Nico Collins had 7 more targets than DeVonta Smith, 120 to 113.

Nico Collins had 109 more receiving yards than DeVonta Smith, 1117 to 1008.

This season DeVonta Smith holds the bigger snap share, 86 percent against 71 percent.

This season DeVonta Smith holds the bigger target share, 33 percent against 23 percent.

Byes and availability

Nico Collins is off in Week 8 and DeVonta Smith in Week 10, so either can cover the other's bye.